[vasanthn21]

Not sure where to post this, hence posting here. Need urgent opinion/advice. Here is the situation. I have 4 alloy wheels and the spare wheel is not alloy. One of the tyres got punctured, and due to a damage to the side of the tire(tubeless), couldn't get it repaired. I am going on a road trip in two days and need a backup and cannot buy a new tyre before tomorrow evening. The puncture shop guy provided another used tubeless tyre which was of the same radius but slightly lesser width. So I have 4 alloy wheels with three of them having 185/60/R15, and a fourth tyre having 175/50/R15!! Will this cause any problems for highway drive or is it better to go with 3 alloy wheels, and 4th normal wheel with tyres of same specifications?

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

I am going on a road trip in two days and need a backup and cannot buy a new tyre before tomorrow evening. The puncture shop guy provided another used tubeless tyre which was of the same radius but slightly lesser width. So I have 4 alloy wheels with three of them having 185/60/R15, and a fourth tyre having 175/50/R15!! Will this cause any problems for highway drive or is it better to go with 3 alloy wheels, and 4th normal wheel with tyres of same specifications?

Use the 175/50R15 tyre at the rear. Have both front tyres identical. That shall be adequate for the trip.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Use the 175/50R15 tyre at the rear. Have both front tyres identical. That shall be adequate for the trip.

I was told the same by the puncture repair guy. Was not sure if his knowledge could be relied on. His logic was that most of the weight is on the front tyres due to engine, hence having one tyre at the rear with lesser width will not matter.
Thanks for the confirmation. Eases my nerves a bit.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

I was told the same by the puncture repair guy. Was not sure if his knowledge could be relied on. His logic was that most of the weight is on the front tyres due to engine, hence having one tyre at the rear with lesser width will not matter.
Thanks for the confirmation. Eases my nerves a bit.

Besides the front having more weight, it is essential that both front tyres shall be of the same size in a front wheel drive car.

Secondly, the spare tyre (5th tyre) can be put to use in any position in case if a puncture. Hope you travel with the spare tyre.

[PetrolHead2272]

Hello,
A very unusual experience happened with me yesterday. I was on my way to Chandigarh with my family in our Honda City.

When we started driving from Gurgaon, we noticed that the car was automatically steering to the left when my dad removed his hands from the steering wheel to buckle up. From this we concluded that the wheel alignment might be a bit off. So we continued to drive.

A few kilometres up, we entered the Western Peripheral Expressway. All of a sudden our car started to bumble. We drove the next 5 Kilometres as if nothing had happened. Then we noticed something, the car was bumbling only while accelerating or decelerating. We stopped the car on the side, Dad and I came out and checked the wheel alignment. The alignment was look alright. Our driver was driving one of our cousin's car, we told him to drive right behind us to monitor if the car was actually moving or not. According to him, the car was moving perfectly fine. But, he forgot to check the front wheels.

Trusting our driver, we continued to drive. 10 kilometres later, the bumbling increased horrendously. All of a sudden we heard a loud smack and a burst, immediately we got to know it was a bursted tire.

Luckily, by god's grace, we were doing just 25km/hr during the time of the tire burst. We were approaching a toll booth and were already driving in the third lane. So, we pulled over immediately and stepped out of the car. Called our driver and changed to the spare tire and continued to drive on until we safely reached Chandigarh.


The whole experience was a bit traumatic. We were so lucky -
a) We were doing just 25km/hr as we were approaching a toll
b) We were already driving in the third lane; hence, we could easily pull over
c) No one was behind us, hence there was no accident.
d) The car already started giving us warning from before, that is why we kept our speed slow. Normally, I have read that tire bursts happen unexpectedly without any warning. Now we don't know whether this was Honda technology involved or god's protective umbrella.

Thanks,
Namit S.

[xavierk]

if you have a blowout the only think that can save you is blind luck.. let me explain

Was driving blr to kerala must have been 2015-16 in my honda city was doing about 120 and a truck was on the fast lane as i was approaching passing on the left lane the trucky tosses out a beer bottle, i see the bottle come out of his window see it it the road in front of me i slammed the brakes trying to avoid the bottle and felt the left tyre go over it.

for a second i though it would be ok then boom left tyre blew out and i did a full 180 and came to a stop facing the wrong direction.
we got lucky the road was wide.
we got lucky there was nothing fast behind us.
we got lucky the car did not flip.

but what i do know is if a tyre blows you have little to no control.

I have always and will always be paranoid about having good tires on the highway.

[sagwal]

There is no doubt that in the case of aquaplaning, it will be better if we have the best tyre at the rear axle.
What about a tyre burst case ??
I have a tyre with a little cut on the sidewall. Where should I put this tyre ( FR, FL or RL or RR) assuming I will not drive on a wet surface.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by sagwal

There is no doubt that in the case of aquaplaning, it will be better if we have the best tyre at the rear axle.
What about a tyre burst case ??
I have a tyre with a little cut on the sidewall. Where should I put this tyre ( FR, FL or RL or RR) assuming I will not drive on a wet surface.

Honestly if that little cut is risky to put in any of the side, its not worth taking that risk at all. So my humble suggestion would be to change the tyre.

[xavierk]

Originally Posted by sagwal

There is no doubt that in the case of aquaplaning, it will be better if we have the best tyre at the rear axle.
What about a tyre burst case ??
I have a tyre with a little cut on the sidewall. Where should I put this tyre ( FR, FL or RL or RR) assuming I will not drive on a wet surface.

the best place for this tyre is in the Junkyard, i would not even keep in in the boot as the spare.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by xavierk

the best place for this tyre is in the Junkyard, i would not even keep in in the boot as the spare.

Absolutely. OK, so the sale is nice for them, but a decent tyre shop won't even repair a puncture that is very close to the side, let alone damage on the side, of a tyre. Replace it, and do so before you need to.

[sagwal]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Honestly if that little cut is risky to put in any of the side, its not worth taking that risk at all. So my humble suggestion would be to change the tyre.

I am replacing all 4 tyres (23k km)but it is not easy to get 215/55/R17.
I did a trip to Nagpur from Jabalpur. After reaching Nagpur, I checked the condition of tyre and found a small cut on front left tyre. I came back to Jabalpur with same tyre but did not cross 70 kmph.
So in case there is no other option then what is best position FR, FL , RR , RL ?

[xavierk]

Originally Posted by sagwal

I am replacing all 4 tyres (23k km)but it is not easy to get 215/55/R17.
I did a trip to Nagpur from Jabalpur. After reaching Nagpur, I checked the condition of tyre and found a small cut on front left tyre. I came back to Jabalpur with same tyre but did not cross 70 kmph.
So in case there is no other option then what is best position FR, FL , RR , RL ?

https://www.tyremarket.com/Search/Car-Tyres/215-55-R17

Online always offers options to buy tires. Don't take a risk its not worth it, if you have a blowout.

[prabhu.reddy92]

Hi,

I own a 2019 Elite i20 Asta (O) Diesel.
My car is running with Bridgestone B250 195/55 tires on R16 alloys, which are factory fitted.
I drive in Bengaluru mostly and my driving conditions are 75% city and 25% highway. My car has done 32K kilometers to date.
The tires still have a good amount of tread leftover but cracks appeared all over the sidewall. I was very careful with the tires and made sure inflation is correct in the past 2 and half years and only used nitrogen, I generally maintain tire pressure anywhere between 32-35 PSI depending on my trip.

Wheel alignment and balancing were done only at the showroom to date. But recently, I have been to a local tire shop for a puncture and wheel alignment and they suggested changing tires immediately looking at the sidewall cracks.

I have attached the pictures, please let me know how bad the situation is. Cracks are present on all 4 tires and all 4 seem to be damaged at the same level.

[VW2010]

32k is a good mileage on those tyres. I will change it. The pictures don't tell the whole story but looks like they are pretty much at the end of their life. I personally will not risk keeping these and will change them immediately for peace of mind.

[r24x7]

Originally Posted by xavierk

if you have a blowout the only think that can save you is blind luck.. let me explain ........

as i was approaching passing on the left lane the trucky tosses out a beer bottle, i see the bottle come out of his window see it it the road in front of me i slammed the brakes trying to avoid the bottle and felt the left tyre go over it..

Whoa! That was really close. I had a similar incident recently when I saw a truck driver ahead of me throw a hard liquor bottle into the median landscaping , which then bounced back in front of me ( from a bush) and landed right in front of my tyres . I missed it somehow and nothing happened afterwards. It seemed so imperative of me to have run over the bottle pieces that I stopped on a side service lane later, spraying water all over tyre threads only to find no leak. Nevertheless , a very dangerous thing to happen to anyone.